Author Topic: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?  (Read 34602 times)

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #100 on: June 26, 2016, 08:42:01 PM »
Yesterday I bought (using gift cards received as wedding presents, of course!) garden supplies and fruit trees. Fruit trees will eventually produce grow-it-yourself food. Gardening is my biggest focus for DIY work right now.

Plus, I repotted some herbs and aloe vera. I need to look into how best to harvest and use aloe vera around the house. Home grown herbs are so convenient and practically free.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #101 on: June 26, 2016, 10:13:21 PM »
Took the slightly longer way home from work and hit the river to go fishing.  Caught two wipers - first wipers I've actually kept.  Learned how to fillet them with the youtubes. Will bury the remnants in the garden in the morning.

Tom Bri

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #102 on: June 26, 2016, 11:10:35 PM »
Took the slightly longer way home from work and hit the river to go fishing.  Caught two wipers - first wipers I've actually kept.  Learned how to fillet them with the youtubes. Will bury the remnants in the garden in the morning.

Sounds like loads of fun!

Joggernot

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #103 on: June 27, 2016, 07:53:07 AM »
Took the slightly longer way home from work and hit the river to go fishing.  Caught two wipers - first wipers I've actually kept.  Learned how to fillet them with the youtubes. Will bury the remnants in the garden in the morning.
What is a "wiper"?  Never heard of one.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #104 on: June 27, 2016, 08:06:41 AM »
Took the slightly longer way home from work and hit the river to go fishing.  Caught two wipers - first wipers I've actually kept.  Learned how to fillet them with the youtubes. Will bury the remnants in the garden in the morning.
What is a "wiper"?  Never heard of one.

It is the hybrid offspring of a white and a striped bass.  Super tasty.

sparkytheop

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #105 on: June 28, 2016, 03:40:43 PM »
Just replaced my bathroom faucet.  Really hoping that's it for now; I've done three faucets in the last couple months, two of my own, one for my parents.

DutyBound

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #106 on: June 28, 2016, 04:09:23 PM »
Long time lurker, first post!

Yesterday, my roommates and I threshed, winnowed, and cleaned ~16 lbs of oats that we grew, and harvested most of a 55 gallon drum of Khorasan wheat (this will likely be ~20-30 lbs of grain). We harvested the oats over the weekend.

This is in addition to ~21 lbs of Sonora Wheat and ~26 lbs of Black Barley that we harvested and processed in the last few weeks, and Emmer that we harvested over the weekend. Ethiopian Blue Tinge is still to harvest and process.

First time growing grains has been a success! No-till and dry farmed too.

Also, I am working on roll-out nest boxes for my chickens, as they have gotten into the habit of eating their own eggs, assisted by the local scrub jay population.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #107 on: June 28, 2016, 06:41:12 PM »
Groomed my standard poodles.  It only took me about 1.5 hours to do each one, which means I'm getting much faster.  Cheapest I've seen locally for a poodle groom is $60.  So learning how to groom them saves me $120/month.

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #108 on: June 28, 2016, 06:56:27 PM »
Completed a basement crack repair with polyurethane foam from Emecole. Now we are hoping for a huge storm to test our handiwork!

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #109 on: June 28, 2016, 06:59:23 PM »
Long time lurker, first post!

Yesterday, my roommates and I threshed, winnowed, and cleaned ~16 lbs of oats that we grew, and harvested most of a 55 gallon drum of Khorasan wheat (this will likely be ~20-30 lbs of grain). We harvested the oats over the weekend.

This is in addition to ~21 lbs of Sonora Wheat and ~26 lbs of Black Barley that we harvested and processed in the last few weeks, and Emmer that we harvested over the weekend. Ethiopian Blue Tinge is still to harvest and process.

First time growing grains has been a success! No-till and dry farmed too.

Also, I am working on roll-out nest boxes for my chickens, as they have gotten into the habit of eating their own eggs, assisted by the local scrub jay population.

Fantastic! Cal Poly would be proud - "learn by doing"!!! Now you have to learn how to grow ollaliberries....I miss the SLO life!

Tom Bri

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #110 on: June 28, 2016, 08:43:36 PM »
Long time lurker, first post!

Yesterday, my roommates and I threshed, winnowed, and cleaned ~16 lbs of oats that we grew, and harvested most of a 55 gallon drum of Khorasan wheat (this will likely be ~20-30 lbs of grain). We harvested the oats over the weekend.

This is in addition to ~21 lbs of Sonora Wheat and ~26 lbs of Black Barley that we harvested and processed in the last few weeks, and Emmer that we harvested over the weekend. Ethiopian Blue Tinge is still to harvest and process.

First time growing grains has been a success! No-till and dry farmed too.

Also, I am working on roll-out nest boxes for my chickens, as they have gotten into the habit of eating their own eggs, assisted by the local scrub jay population.

Impressive! Was this all hand labor? Scythes? Machines?

If the chickens are eating the eggs, sometimes that means they need mineral or protein supplements, although I've heard that once they start, it's a hard habit to break.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #111 on: June 29, 2016, 06:38:19 AM »
Long time lurker, first post!

Yesterday, my roommates and I threshed, winnowed, and cleaned ~16 lbs of oats that we grew, and harvested most of a 55 gallon drum of Khorasan wheat (this will likely be ~20-30 lbs of grain). We harvested the oats over the weekend.

This is in addition to ~21 lbs of Sonora Wheat and ~26 lbs of Black Barley that we harvested and processed in the last few weeks, and Emmer that we harvested over the weekend. Ethiopian Blue Tinge is still to harvest and process.

First time growing grains has been a success! No-till and dry farmed too.

Also, I am working on roll-out nest boxes for my chickens, as they have gotten into the habit of eating their own eggs, assisted by the local scrub jay population.

For the chicken and the eggs: possibly try oyster shells to supplement calcium. Otherwise, if it's habit/dominance/they're being dicks, a golf ball in the nesting box now and again tends to break that habit quick ;)

DutyBound

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #112 on: June 29, 2016, 07:34:45 AM »
Fantastic! Cal Poly would be proud - "learn by doing"!!! Now you have to learn how to grow ollaliberries....I miss the SLO life!

Thanks! I may have gotten the learn by doing from Cal Poly -it is my alma mater after all. Ollaliberries are a good suggestion. Perhaps near my greywater outlet so I don't have to water them so much... We just planted some South African raspberries there and they are doing great!

DutyBound

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #113 on: June 29, 2016, 07:55:30 AM »
Impressive! Was this all hand labor? Scythes? Machines?

If the chickens are eating the eggs, sometimes that means they need mineral or protein supplements, although I've heard that once they start, it's a hard habit to break.

We started with the scythe, but we had such bad lodging (stalks bent over) that it did not work very well. We ended up using kamas, like these



for some of the grains, and plucked the others off with just our hands. VERY labor intensive to harvest, but that was largely due to our poor growing technique. If we could get a good, uniform stand that was all upright, it would have been pretty easy with the scythe. Next year - less horse manure (excess nitrogen can cause the plants to grow too fast, not have good root establishment, and be easily knocked over) and some way to turn off the wind...

As far as the threshing, we used some chain attached to a threaded rod, inside a five gallon bucket, and driven by a cordless drill. The attached photo shows most of the assembly - it just goes inside a five gallon bucket filled with grain heads.

Then for winnowing and cleaning we used some fans and some 1/4" hardware cloth. It takes a couple passes through each to get it mostly clean - we are still thinking we may have to build a de-huller if we want to get them perfect. They'll keep the way they are though, so that's for another day.

As far as the chickens go, I am supplementing free choice oyster shell, Redmond's trace mineral salt, and kelp, to no avail.

DutyBound

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #114 on: June 29, 2016, 08:04:33 AM »
For the chicken and the eggs: possibly try oyster shells to supplement calcium. Otherwise, if it's habit/dominance/they're being dicks, a golf ball in the nesting box now and again tends to break that habit quick ;)

We have been giving them free choice oyster shell, as well as Redmond's trace mineral salt and kelp. It hasn't seemed to help. Oddly, they do not seem to eat much of the oyster shell, but I have been finding a few soft shells now and then. So, they are calcium deficient, but don't want extra calcium? I haven't wrapped my head around that one yet.

As far as golf balls - we did that too. No luck.

I really think that the scrub jays are pecking the eggs, and once they are open, the hens eat the rest of them. How do I know this? We installed a motion sensing game camera in the coop to find which hens were eating eggs (we have 10-20 at any given time, so it can be hard to tell), and as we were watching the footage, into the coop swooped a jay, right onto the nest boxes! Of course that was where the video cut off, so I can't be sure, but they have also killed two of our baby chicks in the last couple weeks (I witnessed one of those - that was very hard to see), and are known to eat eggs on occasion. They are fiendishly smart, and I imagine they could easily pick out the golf balls from the eggs. Whereas the chickens, well...

All that to say, I am trying the rollout boxes because it will prevent both the hens AND the scrub jays from getting at the eggs. Fingers crossed this will be the end of it. It is tough to justify only getting 3 eggs a day for feeding 12 hens...

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #115 on: June 29, 2016, 10:13:50 AM »
Used the Amazon version of the CreaClip http://amzn.to/295QqZE to finally convince my hubby to trim my hair. He did great! And we saved a bunch of $$ by avoiding the salon for a few more months.

Does it count as self-sufficient if a spouse helps :)

YES! :-)

jengod

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #116 on: June 29, 2016, 03:07:16 PM »
Added some stuff to my boys' room in hopes of keeping their stuff off the floor: A panel with eight hooks on the wall for towels, jackets, etc., and two new closet rods for hanging up regular clothes. Previously all their stuff lived in a dresser in that closet but I'm hoping that if they can see all their clothes choices hanging in front of them they won't need to paw through every drawer tossing stuff on the floor as they go looking for something that suits.

NV Teacher

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #117 on: June 29, 2016, 08:36:00 PM »
Took the slightly longer way home from work and hit the river to go fishing.  Caught two wipers - first wipers I've actually kept.  Learned how to fillet them with the youtubes. Will bury the remnants in the garden in the morning.
My brother and a friend went wiper fishing at Willard last weekend and caught a couple.  They were excited.

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #118 on: June 29, 2016, 09:29:06 PM »
Planted basil from seeds and started growing some green onions from the bottoms of the old onions. Never thought it would work! Also am using "plant nannies" with empty wine bottle ms so I don't forget to water the little sprouts!

SoccerLounge

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #119 on: June 29, 2016, 10:03:45 PM »
I was tired of inferior store-bought pimento cheese. "It can't be that hard to make!", I thought.

It wasn't. Yum yum yum. :)

PhysicianOnFIRE

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #120 on: June 29, 2016, 10:58:37 PM »
Brewed 2 batches of homebrewed beer. Amarillo IPA and Rhubarb Sour Patch Kid Wheat.

Sustenance.

Tom Bri

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #121 on: July 01, 2016, 08:26:35 PM »
Chain-sawed a large tree that had fallen over in my dad's field. It was in the way of the farm machinery, so getting it out helped him. Plus, I will have plenty of firewood next year. Somehow for once I am way ahead on cutting wood for next winter.

SoccerLounge

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #122 on: July 02, 2016, 07:13:14 AM »
Planted basil from seeds and started growing some green onions from the bottoms of the old onions. Never thought it would work!

I see the 2016 bottled-wine crop is coming up beautifully too ;)

Metric Mouse

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #123 on: July 02, 2016, 04:02:00 PM »
Planted basil from seeds and started growing some green onions from the bottoms of the old onions. Never thought it would work!

I see the 2016 bottled-wine crop is coming up beautifully too ;)

If only whiskey bottles were so easy to grow! Maybe they need more sun.

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #124 on: July 05, 2016, 10:01:22 AM »
Planted basil from seeds and started growing some green onions from the bottoms of the old onions. Never thought it would work!

I see the 2016 bottled-wine crop is coming up beautifully too ;)

DIY extended watering system....If only it was that easy to grow bottled wine.  Actually, it was a good excuse to drink extra wine! ;-) Alas, I have run out of planters to fill with watering systems.

warmastoast

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #125 on: July 11, 2016, 05:50:33 PM »
Figured out what was wrong with the washing machine - needs new suspension poles - ordered the parts from amazon and replaced them myself.

Took prius v to dealership (stealership!!) was told the car was in very good shape and then got handed an estimate for $850 !!!  worth of replacement fluids. filters and throttle cleaning.  Went online to prius chat and with advice from them,  I've replaced the air filters, the garage replaced the oil and filter and I will buy the transmission fluid for a local garage to drain and fill for me. Total bill down to about $130.   Research helped me find out that coolant and brake fluids won't require changing for at least another 30k miles....

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #126 on: July 11, 2016, 06:54:00 PM »
Yesterday I stained the railings of our deck....today I repaired the cracks in our asphalt driveway. I needed a day with 24 hours until the next day and no temperature drops below 60 degrees to repair the asphalt cracks.  If the weather cooperates, I will stain the flat parts of the deck next weekend.  It rains too much in IL!

SoccerLounge

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #127 on: July 11, 2016, 07:02:24 PM »
Took prius v to dealership (stealership!!) was told the car was in very good shape and then got handed an estimate for $850 !!!  worth of replacement fluids. filters and throttle cleaning.



Depending on what they meant by 'throttle cleaning,' that has to be like... a thousand-percent markup. Wow.

On this note, today, I modified my driver's side floor mat rather than buying a new one (replaced a grommet).

warmastoast

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #128 on: July 11, 2016, 08:38:40 PM »
Took prius v to dealership (stealership!!) was told the car was in very good shape and then got handed an estimate for $850 !!!  worth of replacement fluids. filters and throttle cleaning.



Depending on what they meant by 'throttle cleaning,' that has to be like... a thousand-percent markup. Wow.

On this note, today, I modified my driver's side floor mat rather than buying a new one (replaced a grommet).

it was called "fuel economy maximiser" and cost $250!  The prius chat forum had a field day with that one.

Tom Bri

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #129 on: July 11, 2016, 08:47:51 PM »
Chain-sawed and split firewood for next winter.
Pulled tomato plants to give to people at work.
Harvested a few green tobacco leaves, and strung them to dry.
Sawed lumber to build a few more beehive supers.
One of these days, soon, I have to crawl under my car to investigate the amount of corrosion. It's there, and I have to fix it, but I have been putting it off, as that is a nasty job that I dislike.

SoccerLounge

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #130 on: July 11, 2016, 10:24:39 PM »
it was called "fuel economy maximiser" and cost $250!  The prius chat forum had a field day with that one.

I think the Prius already has a fuel economy maximizer: the battery!!

ahoy

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #131 on: July 12, 2016, 04:31:05 AM »
One year ago I started baking bread from scratch (about one loaf a week - rest was store bought).  My bread making skills are marginal, not great.   A couple of months ago I bought a 2nd hand  bread maker.   I now use this at least twice a week to make the dough and I make it into buns, so these are cooked in the regular oven.  The dough is perfect, I could never get it like this myself!   Plus I hated kneading... seems to take forever.

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #132 on: July 12, 2016, 05:30:18 AM »
Taught myself how to repair the hand brake on my sons bike. It ended up taking less time than loading the bike in the car and driving to the bike shop would have.

Brokenreign

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #133 on: August 06, 2016, 08:36:39 AM »
This week - Got a free bike that someone abandoned at a local bike shop, fixed it up for about $50 and sold it for $260. Started making my own yogurt again. I eat about 4L a week so it definitely pays off. Changed the oil in the car and replaced a broken windshield nozzle. It was a fine week for DIY exploits!

Congrats on the bike fix Nico! I think the % margin on learning to fix your own bike versus getting a mechanic to do it is even greater than the % margin on DIY car fixes.

Joggernot

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #134 on: August 06, 2016, 10:07:18 AM »
Took prius v to dealership (stealership!!) was told the car was in very good shape and then got handed an estimate for $850 !!!  worth of replacement fluids. filters and throttle cleaning.  Went online to prius chat and with advice from them,  I've replaced the air filters, the garage replaced the oil and filter and I will buy the transmission fluid for a local garage to drain and fill for me. Total bill down to about $130.   Research helped me find out that coolant and brake fluids won't require changing for at least another 30k miles....
It's Toyota's "inspection" that identifies these.  If they don't have a record of the work, they say it hasn't been done and needs to be done.  Thus, my Tacoma needed $1,100+ in work.  I did some; my local mechanic did the rest.  Savings of $587 from what the dealer wanted and I still used OEM parts and fluids.  One job that irked me was to replace the cabin air filter.  OEM filter costs $20.  Time to put it in is less than one minute.  Dealer cost to do this was $69.95 plus parts.

On topic: Peeled 2 lbs of garlic to make pickled garlic.  Recipe from AllRecipes.com.  Should have some good pickled garlic in about three weeks.

KiwiSonya

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #135 on: August 22, 2016, 11:59:16 PM »
Asked a friend to teach me to change my bike innertube and got a full bike maintenance lesson and free carrier. He has helped others fix stuff but was impressed that I wanted him to teach me rather than just do it. I have a bike adviser for life which is awesome!!
I have also offered some free weekend labour to friends doing up houses in my street. They think I'm mad but it could save me thousands if I can learn to install insulation etc myself.
Have offered to do light gardening work for my elderly neighbour in exchange for using her washing line and scoring a better spot to grow tomatoes.

Tom Bri

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #136 on: August 23, 2016, 12:23:59 AM »
The garden is in peak season. Ate watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, green beans today. And also picked onions and greens.
Also, the peach tree is coming in season, so have been eating lots of peaches the last few days. In a few more days when they are really getting ripe I'll make some jam.

SomedayStache

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #137 on: August 23, 2016, 07:01:19 AM »

  One job that irked me was to replace the cabin air filter.  OEM filter costs $20.  Time to put it in is less than one minute.  Dealer cost to do this was $69.95 plus parts.


Semi-relevant:  At evening time I headed out to do some minor fixes on my car.  Noticed my 7-yr-old was looking a bit bored so I told him to help me.  I let him replace the cabin air filter entirely by himself as I explained how to do each step.  I thought my son might need help removing the glove compartment - nope!  He pulled that sucker right out of there like an expert.  At completion of the cabin air filter replacement I asked him if next time he would be able to do it all by himself.  In his words "That was SO easy!"

So easy a child can do it.  Literally.  =)

He also helped me replace a license plate light.  It didn't go as smoothly as the air filter and we had to watch a YouTube video because I couldn't figure out the steps.  In the end it was easy - if more time consuming than expected - and it's good to demonstrate that when things get rough we can turn to resources for help.   (Also, how can my license plate light bulbs last 12 years through exposure to all sorts of elements but the dang light over my stove range goes out every month!?)

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #138 on: August 23, 2016, 09:11:38 AM »
Tackled a bathroom update. White peeling melamine to "Castle Gray"with Rustoleum cabinet transformations. Pretty darn proud of myself. 

Oh, and those wine bottle plant nannies from a few weeks ago are a great success - I've got tons of basil!
« Last Edit: August 23, 2016, 09:17:49 AM by couponvan »

KiwiSonya

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #139 on: August 23, 2016, 02:09:06 PM »
Wow, that bathroom  cabinet looks awesome. You rock!
I was on the verge of having a friend come over to look at my computer as I'd been having trouble with Wifi. Instead I sat down and imagined what he'd do -  check cables  turn power off and restart and check settings. And I fixed it myself. Not bad for a techno phobe!

Dicey

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #140 on: August 23, 2016, 02:25:39 PM »
Nice taste in faucets, couponvan! We used the same ones to update our newest rental, which we plan to move into one day ;-)

Also going to offer this gem to all mustachian DIY-ers, because it bears repeating. Check out 99centknobs.com for fantastic deals on knobs, pulls, bathroom hardware and more. Have used them for three different homes now and am in love with their quality, prices and fantastic customer service. Just sharing the love...

kapnfriday

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #141 on: August 24, 2016, 09:47:56 AM »
Gave myself a haircut last night.  Read the MMM post on the UMGD (we already had one) watched a couple youtube videos and went for it.  I've paid real money for worse haircuts.  I used to pay $20 at the barbershop about every 6 weeks.  That's almost $175/year saved. 

ditheca

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #142 on: August 24, 2016, 10:24:31 AM »
I tried to install a ceiling fan.  It isn't flat, makes a horrible grinding sound, and wobbles.  But I did get the wiring right!

Joggernot

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #143 on: August 24, 2016, 02:29:46 PM »
Nothing on youtube that I could find, but figured out how to replace the axle bearings on the golf cart.  Bought bearing kits on eBay.  Took about 2 hours to do both and rotate the tires.  Saved approx. $200 plus the $89 tow to a shop.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #144 on: August 27, 2016, 05:00:15 AM »
Made soap for the first time, with a friend who was also keen to learn :-) it was fun, even if we were terrified of the lye.

couponvan

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #145 on: August 31, 2016, 05:47:05 AM »
Nice taste in faucets, couponvan! We used the same ones to update our newest rental, which we plan to move into one day ;-)

Also going to offer this gem to all mustachian DIY-ers, because it bears repeating. Check out 99centknobs.com for fantastic deals on knobs, pulls, bathroom hardware and more. Have used them for three different homes now and am in love with their quality, prices and fantastic customer service. Just sharing the love...

Thanks! We used those knobs last year....on our firehouse DIY (mostly) kitchen redo! Love 99centknobs.com....

sistastache

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Re: What small thing did you DIY today to be more self-sufficient?
« Reply #146 on: September 01, 2016, 10:38:17 AM »
This was a week ago or so, but merits telling.  I loaned my vacuum to my neighbor and when it was returned it had lost all suction (neighbor failed to mention this).  After cleaning *all the cat litter* out of the filter and still no solution, I decided to take the machine apart.  Five minutes later an enormous clog of pet fur, clay cat litter and a crochet hook was removed and the vacuum has once again harnessed the power of the wind.  It was surprisingly easy to take apart and put back together.  My neighbor denied any knowledge of a crochet hook.  Who vacuums up a crochet hook? Srsly.